Royal Challengers Bengaluru bounced back in emphatic fashion at the Wankhede Stadium, overturning a tough start to their campaign by posting a big total and defending it. Phil Salt led a dominant batting surge, Rajat Patidar kept the momentum rolling, and Tim David finished with a late burst as RCB overpowered Mumbai Indians by 18 runs. Mumbai had a bright beginning in the chase, but repeated wickets and mounting pressure meant they fell short even with Sherfane Rutherford’s late acceleration.
At a glance
- Result: RCB 240/4 (20 overs) def. MI 222/5 (20 overs) by 18 runs
- Venue: Wankhede Stadium
- Top RCB scores: Phil Salt 78 (36), Rajat Patidar 53 (20), Tim David 34* (16)
- Top MI scores: Sherfane Rutherford 71* (31)
- Key bowling for RCB: Suyash Sharma 2/47, Hardik Pandya 1/39
Both sides arrived with batting frustrations fresh in their minds after earlier setbacks against Rajasthan Royals. RCB responded with a ruthless batting plan, taking charge early and then building a platform that Mumbai struggled to breach for most of the chase. The end result was a commanding RCB total of 240 for 4 in 20 overs.
RCB’s innings: phase-by-phase
Salt set the tone immediately, striking 78 off 36 balls with six sixes and matching boundaries in his flurry. When Salt was dismissed, Patidar stepped in and made the middle overs just as costly for MI, smashing 53 from 20 balls, featuring four fours and five maximums. David then provided the finishing touch, remaining unbeaten on 34 off 16 balls to help RCB reach the 240 mark.
Krunal Pandya was also central to the way MI fought back during the chase. In the Powerplay, he bowled an over that cost just seven runs, and across his remaining spells he conceded only 19 more. He also took the crucial wicket of Suryakumar Yadav, tightening the screws when Mumbai were trying to maintain tempo.
RCB’s opening overs forced a reshuffle in MI’s bowling rhythm. Trent Boult leaked runs, while Mitchell Santner—introduced in the Powerplay—was similarly expensive. In the first three overs alone, the duo gave away 46 runs, with Salt punishing anything in his arc, including a hat-trick of sixes off Santner.
Jasprit Bumrah’s first two overs inside the Powerplay were a small breather for MI, costing 16 runs in total, and Hardik Pandya’s over went for nine, which limited the early damage. Still, RCB surged to 71 without loss after six overs, and Salt refused to slow down even as the field spread widened.
Salt continued to rack up boundaries, including a hat-trick of fours off Mayank Markande followed by another six. The sequence propelled him to a fifty in 25 balls. Virat Kohli then steadied the tempo, before striking two fours off Santner to push RCB beyond the 100 mark in the ninth over. By the halfway point, RCB were 115 for 0.
Kohli and Salt put together a 120-run stand, with Kohli contributing 38. Shardul Thakur ended their partnership by removing the England opener, but the interruption did not stop RCB’s momentum. Patidar took over, launching three sixes in a Markande over and hitting a maximum off Thakur as well, with enough boundaries sprinkled in to keep the scoring rate elevated as RCB crossed 150 in the 13th over.
Kohli reached another milestone with a 37-ball fifty, but he was dismissed shortly after, with Hardik striking during a quiet spell that started with a four-run over. From there, RCB’s innings moved into its final surge.
The late surge and the 240
Patidar reached a 17-ball fifty, the quickest of his innings and tied for the second-fastest for RCB, before Santner struck back. The spinner hit the RCB captain with the ball after going for 22 runs off his opening four deliveries, then recovering strongly with only 21 runs conceded across the next 20 balls while also taking that wicket.
RCB also kept control of the scoring in the late-middle overs. The 200 came up in the 17th over, aided by a seven-run Bumrah over, while only 18 runs were added across overs 15 to 17. Tim David then turned the pressure into fireworks: he hit a four and a six off a free hit in the 18th over, bowled by Hardik, with 16 runs coming from that over.
Bumrah was targeted again in the 19th over, where David struck a four and a six, yet Bumrah still delivered wicketless balls. David sealed the innings by finishing with a six off Boult, leaving RCB with 240 for 4.
MI’s chase: start fast, falter gradually
Mumbai were close to matching RCB’s early intensity, reaching 62 without loss in the Powerplay. With Josh Hazlewood absent from RCB’s playing group, Jacob Duffy returned, but he suffered an expensive start—conceding 28 runs across his first two overs. Ryan Rickelton drove much of MI’s batting, smashing three sixes and three fours, while Rohit Sharma also found boundaries and added a maximum.
However, the chase took a physical turn just before the Powerplay ended. Rohit struggled with his hamstring and retired hurt, leaving MI to rebuild with a new batting shape. Suyash Sharma then struck twice in the eighth over, removing Rickelton and Tilak Varma, and after 10 overs MI were 99 for 2. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya were together and looked set to push MI back toward the required rate.
That momentum did not last. Suryakumar fell to Krunal Pandya, and once the 14th over passed, the asking rate climbed above 17. Even so, MI received brief relief: Hardik hit a boundary after being dropped by Krunal, and Sherfane Rutherford also launched a six—both off Suyash. In the end, Suyash finished with figures of 2 for 47.
The pressure then produced another wicket—Hardik was caught at deep backward point off Duffy. Naman Dhir followed shortly after, and Romario Shepherd also missed an early chance to remove Rutherford in the first ball he faced, after overstepping. From there, MI’s required rate kept hovering too high for long enough.
A relatively quiet over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar left MI needing 75 off the final three, which later became 54 off 12 as Rutherford struck three sixes in a 21-run over from Duffy. Still, Bhuvneshwar’s 19th over went for only nine, pushing the target to 45 off the last. In the final over, Rutherford smashed four sixes off Shepherd and finished unbeaten on 71 from 31 balls, but the late surge only trimmed the defeat rather than overturning it.
Decisions, setbacks, and the fine print
There was also a notable moment around glove changes. In hot and humid conditions, requests for equipment adjustments are not unusual, but doing it mid-over led to denial. Tristan Stubbs had faced a similar ruling earlier against CSK, and Hardik found the same fate this time: he asked twice during the 12th over for a glove change, the substitute arrived with fresh gloves, but the umpires refused the request. Unlike Stubbs, though, Pandya did not get out on the very next ball.
Review drama also followed both innings. In RCB’s batting, they exhausted their review options before the 15th over finished, and both were for wide calls—one involving width and another involving height. In both instances, Kohli’s stance was backed by the umpiring after the review, with the batter ultimately proven correct. Later, in the second innings, RCB used a review in the 18th over to get a wide call overturned, although they lost another review soon after for a separate wide claim.
MI responded with their own wide-related checks as well. They reviewed a wide not given for height and were again unsuccessful, and they also lost a further review after a waist-height full toss was ruled against them.
Injuries and discomfort were a recurring theme at Wankhede. Rohit’s early departure to the dug-out was one concern, but others surfaced too: Hardik needed attention from the physio while bowling, and Kohli did not take the field for the second innings due to an ankle issue. RCB’s Impact Player, Rasikh Salam—playing his first match of the season—had trouble with his left leg and needed treatment twice into his third over. He took the wicket of Dhir in between those issues, but eventually left the field after five deliveries in the 16th over.
Rasikh returned, and RCB still wanted him to bowl the 20th over, but he could not because of the time he had missed while off the field. The match therefore carried both on-field strain and tactical adjustments beyond pure cricketing decisions.
What’s next
After two away matches, RCB head home for their third outing of the season at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where they face Lucknow Super Giants on April 15. Mumbai Indians remain at home for their next assignment against Punjab Kings on April 16.
